WHALING, SEALING

WHALING The whale is the largest marine mammal. The toothed whales feed on fish, and include the Sperm Whales and Killer Whales, both now rare. The whalebone whales feed on krill (small shrimp-like animals) and plank­ton, and include the scarce Blue Whales (the largest animals on earth) and a number of smaller species. The Arctic and Antarctic waters are the homes of whales. The leading whaling waters nowadays is north Pacific, and the leading whaling nations are Japan and Russia. However, environ­mentalists are coming out strongly against killing whales, as they are becoming an endangered species.

SEALING The seal is an amphibian, and is hunted for its pelt or fur as well as for its oil. It is native to the Arctic and Antarctic shores where it preys on fish in the water. The main sealing nations are Canada, the USA, Greenland and Norway in the northern hemisphere and South Africa and Argentina in the southern hemisphere. Also of some commercial importance is the walrus whose skin, ivory and fat is used.]

PEARL FISHERY Pearls are derived mainly from oys­ters, though some species of mussels in both tropical and temperate seas may also contain pearls. High quality pearls come from the Persian Gulf, the tropical shores of Sri Lanka, Japan, western Australia, Queensland and northern Venezuela. Pearls are also produced in Mexico; the Gulf of California and wherever there are coral reefs. It was a Japanese, named Kokichi Mikimoto, who invented artificial or cultured pearls in 1913. Young oysters are first collected and grains of mother-of-pearl (the inner lining of oyster shells) are inserted into them. They are then placed in wire cages and lowered into shallow coastal waters. After about two to five years these oysters will be collected and the 'artificial pearls', which have form~d, will be extracted. Japanese pearl-culture industry is centred at Toba, south­eastern Honshu.